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Leadership & Productivity | Just pals – or Sleeping Together?

“Make use of time, let not advantage slip.” ~ William Shakespeare

What Does It Take to be a Great Leader?

As we’ve all learned, most of life’s lessons don’t travel in a neat formation accompanied by bugles and cavalry. They arrive filthy and unkempt, prominent in the mess we’ve made around our foxhole. These lessons are typically the offspring of hubris, naivete and ignorance … or from overlooking the land mines hidden beneath our feet.

Every Tuesday, we’ll share valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders.

Protect the Castle from the Intruders

We’ve taken the first step to taming the behemoth by trying to understand these forces and how they derail our focus and productivity.

Leadership & Productivity are Sleeping Together

Some of you probably expected this article to appear in our Productivity Tips series, and it certainly fits there as well.

I included it here because I think that as good leader, you absolutely must spend more time devoted to what only you can do, as well as thinking” about what needs to be done.

Some of the techniques that can provide that untethered head space require more than productivity tools. If you can protect yourself from the casual interlopers that eat up your day,your ability to be a great leader, and to be productively engaged with the most important aspects of your life, will grow exponentially.

Stop the Death by a Thousand Cuts

There are countless tactics and techniques to deal with these pesky intruders, but many of them are tourniquets to quench the flow from the death of a thousand cuts.

Build a moat … then barricades … lookout posts ….

First, you need to build a moat around your kingdom … and then a defensive perimeter … and then erect a few more barricades and lookouts.

Think of a set of three concentric rings, with you in the bulls-eye. If each of these rings is defensible, and nearly impregnable, you’ve got a fighting chance to find the head room you need to be an effective leader, destroy the detractors and relaunch a more productive life.

1. Defend Your Schedule

Think of the ring furthest from you as the one that protects your schedule. Time is your most precious resource so allowing everyone to manage your calendar defeats the purpose of your control of your day.

Mark off some “office hours.” Block some “do not disturb” time. Get out of the office where you can close the floodgates for a while.

2. Defend Your Turf

What is your turf? It’s what only YOU can do. I’ve often referred to what only the CEO can do, but the same concept applies to every executive.

There are certain things that only you can do. You have the experience … the perspective … the expertise to accomplish certain things that you do better than anyone. More importantly, if you’re not doing them, no one else is either.

Be careful to defend this ground so that you’re laser-focused on getting done those things that only you can do.

3. Defend Your Space

The closest circle is your physical space. You control who stops by your office, how much time they take, whether you can afford the time at that exact moment.

One attractive tool to manage the “drop-bys” is to take a close look at the time-honored system adopted by college professors … “office hours.”

Some of you will say, “Nah, I don’t like that. I like to have an open door, be accessible to my people whenever they need me.”

What that really means is that part of you welcomes the interruption. You get a lot of satisfaction by being the “go-to” guy or gal, the firefighter that people look to when they need help.

It’s a great skill … and firemen are in great demand … but not if the job is building a skyscraper.

4. Defend the Bulls-eye

The bulls-eye is you in the castle keep, and your defense needs to be strongest when the enemy is breathing on the other side of the door.

The Concept of “5% Think Time”

Here’s what its founder Josh Linkner says:

“If someone works 40 hours per week attacking their to-do list, they would have a certain level of productivity, but if they devoted two hours per week to just think, they would be equally or more productive, plus they would occasionally come up with a brilliant idea. I want to create a greenhouse for creativity.”

So, go for it. Manage the keys to the kingdom to get the most out of your day. Don’t work longer hours … be more productive. Don’t hesitate to defend your domain.

You can bet nobody else will do it for you.

Have you got it figured out? What’s working for you? Are you able to clear the decks to get some genuine “think time”?

•••

LaryKirchenbauer is the president of Exkalibur Advisors, providing practical business strategies for family and other privately owned businesses in the middle market. Exkalibur works closely with senior executives and their businesses in the wine and other industries, and hosts the Exkalibur Leadership Forum for leaders of middle market companies in the North Bay. Please visit Exkalibur.com for a library of valuable resources, articles and insights or connect on Twitter, LinkedIN or the Exkalibur fan page on Facebook.

The North Bay Business Journal, a publication of the New York Times, is a weekly business newspaper which I have served as a regular columnist for over three years. The Business Journal covers the North Bay area of San Francisco – from the Golden Gate bridge north, including the Wine Country of Sonoma and Napa counties.

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Testimonials

Within a three year period I had two different startups and one acquisition to deal with. Lary's involvement in the projects allowed me to raise substantial amounts of capital on all occasions. He makes even the most monumental task seem effortless. His tireless attention and focus on the project gets things done, done right, and under deadline. ~ Don Meahan, owner and operator of Alaska’s Naknek Anglers, LLC

Lary has been a tremendous asset to our company. His experience and knowledge provides our young company with the type of financial and business guidance needed to facilitate our continued growth. In addition to Lary's efforts in raising capital for our company, he has assisted Multimedia Live in both extensive business planning, as well as continual ongoing monthly financial and strategy analysis of our business. I have found this to be an invaluable service. ~ Ken Burke, CEO, Multimedia Live, Inc.

Lary was an important component in helping us raise our first (over-subscibed) fund at Harbour Group. His doggedness, professionalism, and friendly demeanor helped open doors for what, at the time, was an untested and reasonably new concept. He was a pleasure to work with and remains a friend to this day.
~ Ralph Lobdell, Chairman, Tripos, Inc.

Lary brings to the table a wealth of real world wisdom and experience that is grounded in an impressive array of C-level and other executive leadership and operational management roles. Over the years I have found Lary's advise and counsel to be invaluable, I think in part because of his dedication and commitment to being of true value to his clients and colleagues. Lary has a well-honed ability to ask the right (and often difficult!) questions, to shed light on the most challenging aspects of your business, to share best practices and to guide you to valuable solutions to consider. I recommend Lary without hesitation. If you are a CEO or senior level executive, working with Lary will no doubt prove to be one of the smartest decisions you will make during your career.~ David Newlin, Managing Partner

In my former position as a tax partner at KPMG, LLP, I worked closely with Lary on the tax aspects of the plethora of business issues that arise in the life cycle of a start up company. It was unusual to see a senior finance person demonstrate a seasoned business acumen in identifying issues and opportunities, grasping the technical issues, resolving obstacles and implementing change. ~ Jeffrey Bergmann, V.P. Worldwide Tax

We have a great management team that has built a very successful company. At an important crossroads, we needed more expertise on an expanded list of financial issues than we could provide ourselves. Lary brought that expertise, providing the depth of knowledge and experience that helped us develop and implement a practical solution.
~ Gary Imm, CEO (retired)

Lary is one of the brightest and most energetic professionals with whom I have ever worked. His skills in dealing with privately held firms and the aggressive and creative solutions made him a valuable asset to any business. ~ F. Bart Smith, President (retired)

Not only do you get honesty and integrity from Lary but you also get creativity, maturity and deep business acumen. Lary is the diamond in the rough for middle market companies in need of corporate advisory services and transaction services. ~ Kelly O. Kay, Partner, Center for Corporate Innovation

I've known and worked with Lary for more than 15 years as a business partner, consulting colleague and adviser and have found that Lary's financial skills and creativity result in high quality results for his clients. I am certain that Lary's strong work ethic, client focus and successful track record bode well for future clients just as they have formed the foundation of a long-term and highly valued relationship for me. ~ Kevin J. Sharps, Director, Financial Services Consulting practice

Lary has a remarkable ability to provide a clear and thoughtful analysis of the business drivers and potential outcomes facing private companies at each stage of development. His insight has provided a powerful framework for decision-making in many challenging situations. ~ Noah J. Rosenkrantz, CEO

Ready to mix it up a little?

If you're a fan of the Mystery-Thriller-Suspense genre, you can enjoy a little diversion and dive into some of the great reads you'll find here. I intend to stimulate your discovery of the good, the bad and the only genre where a ranch breakfast is a steel metal jacket dipped in cordite. Have fun!

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About Me

I am a leadership coach and a professional author and speaker, facilitating leadership groups among CEOs and senior business leaders in the SF Bay area.

I am the author or more than 125+ newspaper columns published by the SF Bay affiliate of the NY Times among the 500+ articles here. I have also written 3 ebooks about Leadership & Business Finance.

I have been married forever to a beautiful woman and have one spectacular daughter who has dedicated her life to helping children with life-threatening illnesses.
Read more ….

Why Learn It All the Hard Way?

Additional E-Books

Ready to mix it up a little?

If you're a fan of the Mystery-Thriller-Suspense genre, you can enjoy a little diversion and dive into some of the great reads you'll find here. I intend to stimulate your discovery of the good, the bad and the only genre where a ranch breakfast is a steel metal jacket dipped in cordite. Have fun!